Christian humorist Dennis Swanberg will tell funny stories, crack a few jokes and deliver the keynote address at a Mississippi College convocation Aug. 23 to welcome MC freshmen and parents.

Better known as "The Swan," the Baylor University alumnus who hails from West Monroe, La. is booked for the event beginning at 2 p.m. on that Saturday in the A.E. Wood Coliseum on the Clinton campus.

President Lee Royce, other MC administrators and faculty will formally welcome the freshmen class into the MC family. Lasting nearly an hour, the convocation will be a time of singing, prayers and speeches.

Swanberg is a familiar face at MC. He spoke in Swor Auditorium to hundreds of Mississippi senior citizens from churches across the Magnolia State during the past academic year. He's also visited the MC campus many times in the role of a parent. One of his two sons, MC senior Dustin "Dusty" W. Swanberg, is expected to graduate in December 2008. Dusty Swanberg is a history major who helps his father at their Swanberg Ministries headquarters in West Monroe.

Dennis Swanberg, the author of the book "The Swan, is also known as "America's Minister of Encouragement." He holds a doctorate of ministry from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. Recent speaking engagements have taken him from First Baptist Church in Dallas to Cornerstone Church in San Antonio to First Baptist Church of West Monroe. He's been a regular guest on Dr. James Dobson's national radio program in recent years.

Swanberg "is a man of faith and wit who speaks to the heart as he makes us laugh," said Ron Howard, MC vice president for academic affairs. The MC administrator will be part of the delegation at the Christian university welcoming hundreds of freshmen, parents and family members.

MC launched the special convocation for freshmen a year ago. Day classes for the fall semester begin Aug. 27 with a record 5,000 students expected to enroll at MC.

PHOTO: Dennis Swanberg

Contact Andy Kanengiser, University News Coordinator, at 601.925.7760 or at kanengis@mc.edu.